Then she moved to Seattle for a job with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. Orienting herself in the Salish Sea’s complex network of bays, lakes and fjords was a very different challenge. For help, she turned to salmon.

“Tracking where the salmon were helped me to figure out where I was in these strange new landscapes,” says Dr. Sullaway. “Salmon really helped me get to know both the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.”

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Dr. Genoa Sullaway.

Wild Salmon Center Fisheries Analyst Dr. Genoa Sullaway.

As Wild Salmon Center’s new Fisheries Analyst, Dr. Sullaway leverages data to help us see where salmon are today—both physically, in oceans and rivers, as well as how they’re faring in a changing world. 

Below, Dr. Sullaway shares why she doesn’t take a “winner-takes-all” approach to salmon conservation, the big questions her research can answer, and why her home river gives her hope. 

“Tracking where the salmon were really helped me get to know both the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.”

Wild Salmon Center Fisheries Analyst Dr. Genoa Sullaway

Wild Salmon Center: Were salmon part of your early life? 

Dr. Genoa Sullaway: They weren’t, not really. Around San Diego, rivers are different. They’re pretty dirty, with lots of concrete. My first connection came from eating salmon, as food. But perhaps even more, from loving the ocean.

My family are water people. Driving down the hill from my parent’s house, you can see tidepools and kelp forests. I grew up surfing and sailing. It’s remained a big force in my life. In my spare time now, in Port Angeles where I live, I spend a lot of my time connecting with the ocean. I free dive for sea urchins, forage for shellfish, recreate on or near the water.

Do you have a favorite salmon memory?

Maybe the first time I went to Lake Iliamna, in Alaska. It was 2023. I was completing my PhD in Fisheries with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. My research focused on both Bristol Bay sockeye and chum populations in the Yukon River. 

We came into the inlet of Knutson Bay, and the water was so blue, so clear. That year, Bristol Bay recorded the biggest run of sockeye it had ever seen, and before me stretched what seemed like walls of red fish. From the boat it seemed like it went on forever. I think sockeye are still my favorite fish.

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Dr. Genoa Sullaway.

Dr. Genoa Sullaway with a sockeye salmon in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

What was the focus of your doctoral research?

Broadly speaking, I used models to understand how both climate change and anthropogenic factors impact salmon. 

For Lake Iliamna sockeye, for example, I was looking at how changes in climate impact when sockeye come back from the ocean. One of the things we found is that in warm years both in the lake and in the ocean, sockeye runs were returning younger. 

For Yukon chum, we looked at both climate and human factors, and how they impacted return numbers overall. It was clear from the data that these runs were struggling.

Zooming out: what would you say was your big takeaway? 

In salmon conservation, sometimes people try to pick winners and losers. It’s true that sockeye in Bristol Bay so far seem to be doing really well at adapting to climate change—especially as compared with Yukon chum, who we’ve seen to be feeling negative impacts from climate change at all stages of their life cycle. By the data, some might say that these runs are losing in the race to adapt.

But conversations like that can leave out a huge lever, which is fisheries management. Every year, we change how we manage different fisheries. These decisions are actually right in the middle of the winners and losers narrative. So what we do, as humans, can be huge in nudging even a so-called loser toward more successful adaptation.

“In salmon conservation, sometimes people try to pick winners and losers. But that can leave out a huge lever. What we do, as humans, can be huge.”

Wild Salmon Center Fisheries Analyst Dr. Genoa Sullaway

You joined the Wild Salmon Center team in late 2025. What convinced you?

The stronghold approach is pretty exciting to me. It’s relatively unique in the conservation space. It brings a more positive lens to salmon conservation, in protecting these ecosystems that really do give us so much, rather than focusing on direness and decline.

I’m also excited to have a seat at the table between many groups. Inside the agencies that manage fisheries, folks are really busy day in and day out. It can be hard for our partners to find time to develop new tools, or move toward more sustainable fishing practices. In this role, I can zoom out, look at the bigger needs.

What kinds of needs are you seeing?

There are a lot of questions that we can answer to help our partners be more strategic with their resources. For me, I can thread a lot of salmon ecology data that’s out there—like the genetics work of my colleague Dr. Tasha Thompson—with other datasets to help with these decisions.

“It can be hard for our partners to find time to develop new tools, or move toward more sustainable fishing practices. In this role, I can look at the bigger needs.”

Wild Salmon Center Fisheries Analyst Dr. Genoa Sullaway

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Dr. Genoa Sullaway.

Dr. Genoa Sullaway, center right, with colleagues sampling salmon carcasses for research.

Take spring Chinook: we’re looking at questions like whether access to exclusive habitat is make-or-break for the persistence of these populations. When spring Chinook can access places that fall Chinook can’t reach, what magnitude of benefit do we see? These are insights that could be really useful.

There are many questions right now about marine salmon fisheries—particularly around stock interception in the ocean. Where specific stocks are, for example, and how many are being caught at sea? 

Answers are critical for fisheries to be able to adapt to climate change and the dynamics we’re seeing in salmon. With the Wild Salmon Center Science team, I’m working to pull together and synthesize data so that communities and fisheries can pursue more informed and equitable approaches to salmon management in a changing ocean.

Issues around salmon fisheries can be pretty fraught, especially between different nations and regions. How do you see your role?

Good science, in my view, can really help more people engage in processes like these. Conversations about salmon fisheries can be difficult and emotional. At Wild Salmon Center. I’m part of a team that’s deeply committed to sharing data in a fair way and helping people follow the science.

“Conversations about salmon fisheries can be difficult. I’m part of a team that’s committed to sharing data in a fair way and helping people follow the science.”

Wild Salmon Center Fisheries Analyst Dr. Genoa Sullaway

What kind of impact would you like to make with your research, in the coming years?

Ultimately, my hope is that my work can help drive change in fisheries management. For example, many managers today base escapement goals on the reproductive ability of an average salmon, salmon of a certain size. That average salmon size might be from the 1990s. And yet we know that fish are returning to rivers smaller and smaller. Smaller fish have fewer eggs. So these escapement goals might need to shift.

Since your boat trip to Knutson Bay, you’ve spent a lot more time in salmon rivers. What do these places mean to you today?

 

Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Dr. Genoa Sullaway.

Dr. Genoa Sullaway gets a little too close to a bed of mussels. Ouch! (Photo courtesy Dr. Genoa Sullaway.)

I live about 10 miles away from the Elwha River. I see it every day. I walk my dog there, gather there with friends, camp and backpack along the stretch of the watershed. There’s an encouraging story there, with the return of ceremonial fisheries to the river.

I think about what salmon represent outside of ecology, or science. I think of them as part of my community. I think about hosting a potluck, having a bunch of people over where we’re all eating salmon. And I want to be able to keep doing that. 

“I think about what salmon represent outside of ecology, or science. I think of them as part of my community.”

Wild Salmon Center Fisheries Analyst Dr. Genoa Sullaway

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Recent political shifts in the United States are creating new headwinds for wild salmon, steelhead, and trout. Wild Salmon Center’s federal affairs team is closely tracking these challenges for wild fish conservation—along with a few new opportunities—in the 119th U.S. Congress and second Trump Administration.

“Wild Salmon Center has successfully worked with every U.S. administration in our history,” says Wild Salmon Center President & CEO Guido Rahr.  “That’s because our wild places and public lands heritage transcend politics. They matter to every American.”

That said, Rahr notes, the Trump Administration has been clear that it wants to dramatically reshape the federal workforce and budgeting landscape. 

“We have hard work ahead of us, to fit salmon and river conservation into this Administration’s agenda,” he says. “We know this will take strategy, credibility, and trust.”

Below we share some recent wins on the national stage, even as we note setbacks. We also spotlight critical conversations taking place right now in Washington, D.C.—ones that could swing several ways for salmon and their home rivers.

“Wild Salmon Center has successfully worked with every U.S. administration in our history. We have hard work ahead of us, to fit salmon and river conservation into this Administration’s agenda.”

Wild Salmon Center President and CEO Guido Rahr

Progress we’re making

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL DEFEND BRISTOL BAY

In July, we received good news from the U.S. Department of Justice, when the agency announced that it would uphold and defend federal decisions that effectively block the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, home to one of the world’s greatest wild salmon fisheries. 

The two decisions—a 2020 U.S. Army Corps rejection of a key mine permit and the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 decision to invoke the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay’s headwaters from future versions of Pebble—are both being challenged in federal court by Pebble backer Northern Dynasty Minerals. 

Now, as the litigation moves forward in court, Wild Salmon Center and our partners in the Bristol Bay Defense Fund will fight alongside the full force of the U.S. government to ensure that mining threats never again put this irreplaceable salmon stronghold at risk. 

BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION INTRODUCED TO SAFEGUARD FLOODPLAINS

In May, Senators Patti Murray (D-WA) and Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act: bipartisan legislation that Wild Salmon Center worked closely with Congressional leaders to shape. 

The bill aims to accelerate permitting processes for ecosystem restoration in regulated floodplains: federally-managed floodplains within salmon watersheds that dot the coastal Pacific Northwest.

“Permitting reform is a goal of this Congress,” says Wild Salmon Center Government Affairs Director Jess Helsley. “We agree that there are places where streamlining processes are necessary.”

A place to start, Helsley says, is in floodplains regulated by FEMA, where cost-effective, nature-based solutions that aim to improve infrastructure and aquatic resources are currently held up by burdensome federal red tape. The Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act, she says, is a commonsense fix to this problem. 

“Accelerating permitting for low-risk projects in low-risk areas means we can speed and scale the habitat restoration projects that salmon need,” Helsley says. “It also means our friends and neighbors can access more solutions to decrease the risk of flood damage in their communities.” 

“Permitting reform is a goal of this Congress. Accelerating permitting for low-risk projects in low-risk areas means we can speed and scale projects that salmon need.”

Wild Salmon Center Government Affairs Director Jess Helsley

Issues we’re tracking

Beyond these bright spots, however, looms a wave of potentially damaging executive orders, policy changes, and unprecedented budget cuts. Collectively, they could reverse decades of progress for the conservation and management of America’s wild fish and wild places—at a moment when, after decades of investment, we’re starting to make real progress for wild salmon and their rivers. 

PUBLIC LAND SALES

Case in point: millions of acres of American public lands were nearly sold off in June, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Brought by Utah Senator Mike Lee, these land sale provisions were ultimately defeated, thanks in part to strong advocacy from key Wild Salmon Center board members and other partners in our conservation network. For the moment, these lands are safe from further development and resource extraction, but Rahr notes that Senator Lee and his allies continue to push for public land sales through other avenues.

“Wild Salmon Center and our partners are closely tracking these developments and remain engaged with political and agency leaders,” Rahr says. “We’re going to work every angle to keep these special places whole.” 

“Wild Salmon Center and our partners are going to work every angle to keep these special places whole.” 

Wild Salmon Center President and CEO Guido Rahr

MAINTAINING CORE FEDERAL CONSERVATION AND SCIENCE PROGRAMS

Right now, core functions in many federal agencies are challenged by workforce reductions and budget cuts—from fish monitoring at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the National Resources Conservation Service’s popular conservation grant programs for farmers.

With our partners, we’re working to ensure that NOAA and other natural resource agencies get the funding they need to manage salmon fisheries, restore critical habitats, and perform other essential functions necessary to safeguard wild salmon. This includes funding support for the scientific research that drives the productivity of America’s fisheries. 

“Every year, salmon fishers rely on federal scientists to provide high quality harvest forecasts, identify where and when to fish, and help keep watersheds healthy,” says Wild Salmon Center Science Director Dr. Matthew Sloat. “Without skilled federal scientists and managers, American fisheries would be less prepared and less productive. We must hold on to this talent.”

As of this summer, our federal affairs team is in full court press to ensure that Congressional appropriations include funding for these core salmon programs and others. Congress faces an end-of September deadline for these decisions—after which we’ll aim to ensure that the Administration spends these funds as directed by Congress.

“Without skilled federal scientists and managers, American fisheries would be less prepared and less productive. We must hold on to this talent.”

Wild Salmon Center Science Director Dr. Matthew Sloat

ADVANCING THE PARTNERSHIPS THAT ARE REBUILDING AMERICAN RIVERS

Conservation nonprofits like Wild Salmon Center have been essential partners of the U.S. government for decades. In many cases, we coordinate—and quite literally are—the shovels and boots that put federal investments to work. 

Wild Salmon Center has a long history of working with federal agencies to advance science, coastal restoration, and fisheries management. And these agencies have noted the efficiency and effectiveness of these partnerships. In 2024, NOAA cited the ongoing river restoration work of the Wild Salmon Center-led Coast Coho Partnership as key to recovery trends for Oregon Coast coho salmon.

“Right now, we’ve increased coho salmon abundance to the point where we have a real shot at delisting the first salmon species ever under the Endangered Species Act,” Rahr says. “But it’s happening at a moment when the federal partnerships that drive this work are deeply at risk. We’re working with leaders from both parties to protect the funds needed to complete the recovery of wild coho.”

“Right now, we have a real shot at delisting the first salmon species ever under the Endangered Species Act. We’re working with leaders from both parties to complete the recovery of wild coho.”

Wild Salmon Center President and CEO Guido Rahr

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In the closing days of Alaska’s 2025 legislative session, state lawmakers introduced the Bristol Bay Forever Act. This bill aims to safeguard the entire, 36,000-square-mile Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve from all large-scale metallic sulfide mining: the type of mining most harmful to salmon. 

These state-level protections would further advance a decades-long campaign—led by the United Tribes of Bristol Bay and the Bristol Bay Defense Fund coalition—to keep Bristol Bay’s priceless salmon fishery safe from the very real threat of massive mineral exploitation, as embodied by our fight against the Pebble Mine.

“Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery is irreplaceable,” Wild Salmon Center Alaska Director Emily Anderson. “And yet, for decades, Pebble Mine has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the region, affecting Tribes, communities, small businesses, and a $2.2 billion regional economy.”

“Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery is irreplaceable. And yet, for decades, Pebble Mine has cast a shadow of uncertainty over the region.”

Wild Salmon Center Alaska Director Emily Anderson

Thanks to tireless advocacy by these communities—and the support of millions of people across the globe—federal decisions in recent years have blocked the advancement of the Pebble Mine project. In 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rejected a key permit for the mine, and in 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invoked Clean Water Act protections to make the headwaters of Bristol Bay’s Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers off limits to hardrock mining. But the threat is not over.  Northern Dynasty Minerals, the principal backer of the Pebble project, has challenged both decisions in court and is aggressively trying to overturn them. 

Alaska legislators are now stepping up to add another layer of protection for Bristol Bay. If enacted, the Bristol Bay Forever Act would protect the entire Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve from the Pebble Mine and mining operations in 20 additional known mineral deposits in the region. This law would not only help ensure the future of the largest salmon fishery on Earth and the communities that depend on it, but also 15,000 jobs and hundreds of small businesses.

“Alaskans have demanded stronger protections for Bristol Bay for years,” Anderson says. “Now Alaska’s leaders are meeting the challenge head on with a state-based solution to safeguard our largest and most sustainable salmon fishery.” 

House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham), Representative Andy Josephson (D-Anchorage), and Representative Sara Hannan (D-Juneau) introduced the Bristol Bay Forever Act in the 2025 session’s closing days in late May. Wild Salmon Center and our coalition will now build momentum for this important bill by raising awareness and support across Alaska. Join us in supporting the Bristol Bay Forever Act.

“Alaskans have demanded stronger protections for Bristol Bay for years. Now Alaska’s leaders are meeting the challenge head on.” 

Wild Salmon Center Alaska Director Emily Anderson

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A new scientific threat assessment of the world’s freshwater fauna is out, and its findings are startling.

Using International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria and data, 45 leading scientists find that one quarter of the 23,496 species analyzed—the most comprehensive assessment of IUCN Red List threatened freshwater species—are at risk of extinction.

“This is the world’s most rigorous global assessment to date of extinction risk for freshwater species,” says Dr. Matthew Sloat, Wild Salmon Center Science Director and co-author of the paper, published January 8 in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature. “The results signal an alarming level of stress to the rivers and streams that sustain us all. But our paper also shows a path towards conservation.”

“Our paper signals an alarming level of stress to the rivers and streams that sustain us all. But it also shows a path towards conservation.”

Wild Salmon Center Science Director Dr. Matthew Sloat

From aquatic insects to wild fish, the paper finds that leading threats to freshwater species and their global diversity include habitat loss through development and dam building, as well as overfishing. 

And while the paper’s findings are indeed dire, Dr. Sloat notes that he and his coauthors also identified areas with healthy watersheds that harbor abundant and diverse freshwater species.  If we can conserve these intact ecosystems before they are degraded, he says, that could help us get ahead of the extinction curve. 

This proactive approach is the foundation of Wild Salmon Center’s salmon stronghold strategy, which focuses on protecting relatively healthy salmon ecosystems across the Pacific Rim. Protecting healthy systems such as Bristol Bay, Alaska, the Skeena River region in British Columbia, and the coastal rainforest rivers of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, provides benefits that extend well beyond salmon. 

Research shows that when Pacific salmon do well, the benefits also flow to at least 137 other marine and freshwater species, including sea eagles, otters, bears, and orcas. If we can ensure the overall success of keystone species like salmon, we’ll be helping to improve the survival outlook for countless other species—as well as the human communities they support.

“A comprehensive strategy to protect freshwater species must both proactively protect the world’s healthy river systems and pay urgent attention to its most threatened places,” Dr. Sloat says. “This new paper can catalyze that work, by identifying places with high species extinction risk, as well as global biodiversity strongholds.”

“A comprehensive strategy to protect freshwater species must both protect the world’s healthy river systems and pay urgent attention to its most threatened places. This new paper can catalyze that work.”

Wild Salmon Center Science Director Dr. Matthew Sloat

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In 2021, tech leader Ratmir Timashev, the founder of Veeam Software, sat down to read the book Stronghold—the story of Wild Salmon Center CEO Guido Rahr’s quest to save the world’s wild salmon. Later that year, he met the man himself, while fly fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

“Before that, I only really viewed salmon as one of the healthier meal options in my otherwise standard American diet,” says Timashev, a serial technology entrepreneur who lives in Connecticut.

“From Guido and later the WSC,” he adds, “I learned that the health of our salmon populations is a bellwether for the health of our rivers, oceans, and communities across the Pacific.”

Timashev says since that Alaska trip, he’s come to see parallels in WSC’s stronghold approach to salmon conservation and his own approach to success in the world of technology. The quest to scale this winning strategy drew him to support one of WSC’s most ambitious efforts yet: our forthcoming IMAX film and outreach campaign.

Below, Timashev shares more about the parallels he sees between his journey as a salmon conservationist, software luminary, and mentor to future generations.

The health of our salmon populations is a bellwether for the health of our rivers, oceans, and communities across the Pacific.

Ratmir Timashev

Wild Salmon Center: Where does your salmon journey begin?

Ratmir Timashev: My journey began in 2021 when I was fortunate to be introduced through a friend to Guido Rahr, the President and CEO of Wild Salmon Center. While traveling on one of my first fly fishing trips, we spoke at length and established a close bond. Guido opened my eyes to a much larger story about both salmon and our planet. Before that, I only really viewed salmon as one of the healthier meal options in my otherwise standard American diet, which consisted of a lot of meat.  

From Guido and later the WSC, I learned that the health of our salmon populations is a bellwether for the health of our rivers, oceans, and communities across the Pacific. Entire ecosystems feed off salmon and cannot afford for them to go extinct. This is because the salmon lifecycle sees them travel vast distances—from streams and rivers, all the way to the ocean and eventually back to the freshwater rivers where they began (sometimes over seven years later). Salmon are also more than just a nutritious food and environmental priority—they are a critical part of the natural heritage that defines the American and Canadian West, Alaska, the Russian Far East, Japan, and so many communities globally.

Guido opened my eyes to a much larger story about both salmon and our planet.

Ratmir Timashev

Unfortunately, some communities have experienced the hardships that come when watersheds are threatened. I learned that certain Brazilian communities, for example, have been unable to overcome the damage done to local rivers by mining and chemical pollution. All of these early realizations sparked my interest. And Guido’s ambitious vision for the WSC has helped me translate it into a commitment to supporting vital conservation efforts like these.

WSC: Is there a salmon memory that stands out from the rest? A trip, an encounter, something that surprised you?

My time in Bristol Bay, Alaska, in September of 2021 was incredible. Waking up each day of the trip and exploring this pristine part of the United States is an experience I’ll never forget. The rivers and communities alike were full of life. 

In the awe-inspiring backdrop of this region, however, it was these fishermen, Tribal leaders, and conservationists who struck me the most. Many of our instructors were young and impressive, many of whom grew up in Alaska, studied in the U.S. mainland, and now return each year to work in the community. They care deeply about Alaska, salmon, and preservation, and have been tirelessly fighting to protect the ecosystem for decades. Their stories resonated with our group, of their community’s deep cultural and economic ties with salmon in ways I never imagined previously. 

In the awe-inspiring backdrop of this region, however, it was these fishermen, Tribal leaders, and conservationists who struck me the most.

Ratmir Timashev

I walked away from this trip with these stories and conversations, as inspiration for my continued interest and support under the leadership of Guido and WSC. I learned that despite Bristol Bay being home to the world’s largest wild salmon fishery, it was facing potentially existential environmental challenges. As a result, some of WSC’s most impactful work has been advocating against the Pebble Mine project in the area. As a result of WSC’s efforts and the community-led coalition that successfully leveraged the Clean Water Act, the world’s greatest wild sockeye salmon runs will continue being nurtured throughout this watershed.

This work and impact with Bristol Bay has been instrumental on so many fronts. And I know there are more and more other communities that need this level of support across the region. 

WSC: What are the most exciting parts of your work with Wild Salmon Center? 

It’s exciting to see how Guido, and those around him, have grown WSC into a global conservation movement and brand. What began as a regional initiative has become a worldwide, growing effort I’m fortunate to be a small part of.

What I value most, though, is WSC’s focus on empowering the individuals and communities who rely on salmon. This is not only about protecting nature and our planet, but about preserving the very fabric of communities and our society. WSC is telling local stories to the world, bringing best practices to their work, and now also leveraging technology and artificial intelligence. The list goes on of how WSC’s team and partners are dramatically making life better for so many, at scale. 

This is not only about protecting nature and our planet, but about preserving the very fabric of communities and our society.

Ratmir Timashev

WSC: In terms of Guido’s story and your own, where did you see a connection?

On the surface, my and Guido’s respective work does not seem to hold many parallels. My coworkers and I were never doing field research in the beautiful parts of Oregon or the Pacific Northwest. My career has largely revolved around computers and software, serving to make companies better, stronger, and their business data protected and more secure. Making communities more secure and strong, however, is exactly the business that Guido is in.

Like my companies and our target markets, the WSC team are experts in salmon, this network of organizations, and target audiences of legislators and other key players. Their strategic approach of understanding that to protect wild salmon, you need to target this entire system—from the rivers where salmon spawn, to the oceans where they mature and well beyond—is similar to how I’ve approached business problems. It makes our partnership effective, because we both believe in the power of long-term planning, strategic investment, and building brilliant products that solve problems across a system, whether they are businesses or ecosystems.

To protect wild salmon, you need to target this entire system—from the rivers where salmon spawn, to the oceans where they mature and well beyond. [This approach] is similar to how I’ve approached business problems.

Ratmir Timashev

WSC: You work a lot with students and the next generation of innovators, particularly at Ohio State University. Why do you feel we need to be engaging younger generations—whether in technology, business, or conservation? 

The next generation is the key to our future. This is true across all fields: technology, business, and especially conservation. At Ohio State University, I have the privilege to work with some of the brightest young minds and professionals who are passionate about innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology. Through our focus on the next generation, we’re inspired by the hope that the American Midwest and Heartland can be a catalyst for economic growth, innovation, and global leadership in these industries. 

These students bring new ideas, energy, and perspectives to problems we’ve long faced. They ask questions no one else thinks to ask. They are naturally interdisciplinary in how they view the world, and as digital natives they don’t think twice about leveraging technology.  

In conservation, it’s an even greater imperative since the scope of the challenges we face are enormous: climate change, habitat loss, species extinction, and more. We truly need all the creativity and innovation we can muster to address them at scale. By involving and empowering young people to take ownership of these issues and solutions, we are not just preparing them for their futures. We are passing the baton and ensuring that today’s work expands for decades to come.

The challenges we face are enormous. By involving and empowering young people to take ownership of these issues and solutions, we are ensuring that today’s work expands for decades to come.

Ratmir Timashev

WSC: When we look years down the line, what are the outcomes you want to see coming from your work with Wild Salmon Center?

I envision Wild Salmon Center becoming one of the most recognized and respected environmental conservation organizations, and that their impact can be felt across the globe. My goal is for everyone—from chefs and foodies to policymakers and educators—to understand the importance of wild salmon and the ecosystems they support. But more than that, I want to see a cultural shift where people everywhere recognize how interconnected our global ecosystem is and how vital it is to protect it. Salmon are just one part of this, but they are a powerful symbol of what we stand to lose if we don’t act. 

There are tremendous plans in the works through Guido’s and the WSC’s team’s creative leadership. Through films, partnerships, and events in cities around the globe, my hope is that we will inspire individuals to take action and further ignite a global movement that protects the natural world, ensuring that future generations inherit a planet that is vibrant, diverse, and sustainable. 

WSC: What do you want others to know about salmon and the conservation of the vast North Pacific?

When I explain WSC to friends and family, I share just how crucial salmon are and what we risk by not protecting them. In securing salmon strongholds, we’re also talking about Amur tigers, Kermode bears, Blakiston fish owls, Stellar sea eagles, wolves, whales, dolphins, sharks, and thousands of other animals. The whole ecosystem feeds off salmon because of their fascinating journey across several life stages and migration points. If the ecosystem is broken, it cannot be restored. To date, WSC strongholds are also responsible for sequestering over 6 billion tons of carbon.

I emphasize that these challenges are solvable and scalable, and that WSC’s multi-pronged approach is proven, time-tested, and a model for how uncommon partners can come together to solve difficult problems. Most importantly, I want others to know they have a role to play and that WSC is open for business.

Through films, partnerships, and events in cities around the globe, my hope is that we will inspire individuals to take action and further ignite a global movement that protects the natural world.

Ratmir Timashev

WSC: What have you seen in your life—a personal experience maybe—that really gives you hope?

Throughout my career, I’ve learned that achieving large-scale impact is possible when the right elements come together: timing, product-market fit, and leadership. This is the “magic” that drives success for great entrepreneurs and movements. 

This is exactly what I see happening with the Wild Salmon Center. Guido and his team have the right tools, experiences, and momentum to lead the way forward—just like other great conservation and social change movements before us. It gives me hope that today’s change-makers and emerging young leaders see this same opportunity that I see. It’s now time to scale this work forward.

Guido and his team have the right tools, experiences, and momentum to lead the way forward—just like other great conservation and social change movements before us. It gives me hope.

Ratmir Timashev

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The Secretary of the Interior today announced full protections for tens of million acres of public lands across Alaska, safeguarding them from extractive industrial development. 

You spoke up and Washington listened!

These rich landscapes, including millions of acres around the Bristol Bay, Yukon and Kuskokwim regions support all five species of Pacific salmon, three of North America’s largest caribou herds, abundant moose populations, and vast numbers of migratory birds. 

Protecting these places from industrial development will help buffer vulnerable fish and wildlife populations from the effects of climate change and provide future food security for Alaska Native Tribes in over 100 communities. On behalf of Alaskan communities, fish, and wildlife: Thank you!

Keeping Critical Landscapes Intact

Since January 2021, we’ve been working with our partners to stop five Public Land Orders prepared by the Secretary of the Interior under the Trump Administration. The orders would have opened up some 28 million acres of public lands and waters to extractive industrial development. (See these 5 maps that help tell the story.) 

The salmon- and wildlife-rich federal lands named in the orders are located in the Bristol Bay, Bering Sea Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk Seward, and the Ring of Fire regions.

Known as “D-1” lands, these acres have been considered off-limits to mineral, oil, and gas extraction since the passage of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). 

Alaska’s BLM-managed D-1 lands (50.1 million acres in total) cover roughly 13 percent of the state. These large swaths of unfragmented habitat represent some of the nation’s largest remaining intact ecosystems, from high alpine tundra to the pristine estuaries and wetlands in places like Bristol Bay, home to the world’s most abundant wild sockeye runs.

These landscapes support migratory birds and roving herds of caribou, while their undisturbed watersheds deliver the cold, clean water that wild fish need to weather accelerating climate impacts. For Alaska Native communities that rely on subsistence fishing and hunting, D-1 lands are critical to supporting food security and maintaining a way of life that has endured for millennia.

These protections are arguably more important than ever, given the pressures of climate change on Alaska’s natural systems, fish and wildlife populations, and human communities.

When Congress enacted ANCSA five decades ago, it expressly withdrew unreserved lands in Alaska to allow the Secretary of the Interior time to determine whether opening these lands to resource extraction served the public interest. 

The Bureau of Land Management’s environmental review process, launched in 2023, brought a chance for communities, hunters, anglers, and conservation groups to make the case that strong D-1 land protections—not resource extraction—best serve the public interest.

Public Support

And make the case, you did. Over 100,000 Americans spoke out in favor of keeping full-fledged protections. That included over half of Alaska Native Tribes and hundreds of businesses.

People across Alaska and the country understood the value of these large landscapes. You understood how this land use decision could impact fish and wildlife habitat, and cultural and subsistence resources for thousands of people.

You understood this campaign was a historic opportunity. Now, we can rest easier, knowing that the future of some of our last, best undisturbed public lands is more secure.

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Today, Wild Salmon Center and our Bristol Bay Defense Fund coalition partners celebrate the introduction of the Bristol Bay Protection Act in Congress. 

The bill—sponsored by Representative Mary Peltola (D-AK)—marks a big step forward for our coalition’s decade-long campaign to permanently safeguard the world’s greatest sockeye salmon fishery. 

Rep. Peltola’s bill would layer protections on top of a 2023 decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to invoke Clean Water Act (“404c”) protections for the headwaters of Bristol Bay. The agency’s decision made this area off-limits to the Pebble Mine project, which would have been the world’s largest open pit mine.

“This bill would ensure that the headwaters of Bristol Bay stay off limits to Pebble and mines like it,” says WSC Alaska Director Emily Anderson. “Given mounting pressure from extractive industries, an act of Congress can make sure that Bristol Bay can withstand future development threats.”

“This bill would ensure that the headwaters of Bristol Bay stay off limits to Pebble and mines like it. An act of Congress can make sure that Bristol Bay can withstand future development threats.”

WSC Alaska Director Emily Anderson

If signed into law, the Bristol Bay Protection Act would codify EPA’s 2023 final determination. That move—which followed years of relentless advocacy by Bristol Bay Tribes, our coalition partners, and more than four million letters of support to EPA—was spotlighted last spring in the White House Rose Garden. 

“Bristol Bay and its irreplaceable fishery deserve the strongest possible defense from shifting politics and beyond,” Anderson says. “This bill is a big step in the right direction.”

“Bristol Bay deserves the strongest possible defense from shifting politics and beyond. This bill is a big step in the right direction.”

WSC Alaska Director Emily Anderson

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Campaign update: More than 140,000 Americans joined over half of Alaska Native Tribes, and hundreds of businesses in a groundswell of support for protections across 28 million acres of federal land in Alaska (see press release). Next, the Secretary of the Interior will review public comments, with a final decision expected in summer 2024.

In Alaska, everything is bigger. That’s true right now, of a rare chance to save some of America’s largest intact landscapes.

We have a small window of time to prevent 28 million acres of protected Alaska land (in total, an area larger than West Virginia) from being opened to extractive industrial development. These lands include Bristol Bay, where we spent decades working to stop Pebble Mine.

In the five maps below, we detail exactly why all 28 million public acres—not just Bristol Bay—are too precious to put at risk.

And the clock is ticking. We have until February 14 to tell the Bureau of Land Management to safeguard some of Alaska’s best salmon and trout rivers, along with the world’s best caribou habitat. We’ll never get this chance again. That’s because in Alaska, once land protections are lifted, they’re almost impossible to reinstate. Read on for what it means if we lose these lands forever.

28 Million Acres At Risk

In the last days of the Trump Administration, orders were issued to open tens of millions of acres of protected lands in Alaska to industrial development. These orders are still pending. In the crosshairs: 28 million acres of BLM lands spread across the state: some of the largest intact landscapes left on Earth. Through mid-February 2024, the Biden Administration’s BLM has opened a public comment period on whether to lift these protections. This is our moment to make sure these public lands stay in public hands.

A Threat to 100+ Alaska Native Communities

BLM-managed lands support important subsistence resources and serve as the breadbasket for thousands of Athabaskan, Aleut, Dena’ina, Inupiat, Yup’ik, and Tlingit peoples. More than 100 Alaska Native villages count on these lands for subsistence resources. And for Alaska Native communities living off the road system, more than 80 percent of food is sourced directly from surrounding lands and waters. In October, 78 Alaska Native Tribes wrote to urge Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to retain these protections.

A Threat to 5,000 Miles of Salmon Rivers—and Counting

Alaska’s BLM lands and its vast network of pristine rivers, lakes, and streams support five species of Pacific salmon. Salmon is an important subsistence resource for Alaska Natives and many other communities throughout Alaska. Even without a complete survey yet from the State of Alaska, we already know that at least 5,000 miles of salmon streams flow through the BLM lands under review.

A Threat to the Largest Caribou Herds on Earth

These BLM lands are home to three of North America’s largest caribou herds. The largest of these, the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, undertakes one of the longest terrestrial mammal migrations in the world. Communities rely on caribou migratory movements for subsistence harvest—a critical resource in northwest Alaska. But encroaching industrial development is already taking a toll on the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, which has shrunk by an estimated 23 percent in the last few years. We can’t risk losing these last unfragmented swaths of wildlife habitat.

A Threat to Your Public Lands

Alaska’s BLM lands represent some of the largest intact landscapes left in the United States. From Bristol Bay to the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, to new and emerging habitat, once glaciated, in East Alaska, these lands support outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing, and habitat connectivity across tens of millions of acres. Like giant puzzle pieces, these BLM lands adjoin the state’s other protected areas: critical parts of a whole and healthy Alaska.

Right now, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to safeguard Alaska’s BLM lands. In doing so, we can help secure a way of life for thousands of Alaska Natives, irreplaceable fish and wildlife habitat, and some of the largest intact landscapes left on Earth.

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Wow. This was a year of epic victories and new challenges for all of us here at Wild Salmon Center. With our partners in Alaska and beyond, we stopped Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay; meanwhile, geopolitics forced us (for now) to suspend our Russia partnerships. All told, this year showed us that even in times of strife, wild salmon and steelhead can still bring us together across the North Pacific. From our high tech work with First Nations to a $174 million win for Oregon rivers, read on for why 2023 just might be our best year yet!

1) Victory for Bristol Bay, Alaska

In mid-February, WSC hosted a party with our Bristol Bay Defense Fund coalition partners here in our Portland office. With EPA’s final decision on Pebble Mine then just a few weeks out, let’s just say that the occasion called for celebration. The fact that Bristol Bay is now safe from the threat of this toxic mine owes so much to our amazing partners, from our valiant and unstoppable coalition leader Alannah Hurley of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay to our friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council, SalmonState, Arc Initiatives, the Alaska Venture Fund, Commercial Fishermen for Bristol Bay, the Native American Rights Fund, Business of Bristol Bay, Cassidy & Associates, and True Blue Strategies. LONG LIVE BRISTOL BAY!

2) Salmon Vision Steals the Show in B.C.

In October, WSC Senior Watershed Scientist Dr. Will Atlas along with First Nations partners and others officially debuted “Salmon Vision,” a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence tool piloted on First Nations fish weirs on the British Columbia Central Coast. International media picked up the story of how this Indigenous-led automated fish counting and identification technology—with promising early results published in Frontiers in Marine Science—could be a game-changer for salmon managers across the Pacific Rim.

3) The Klamath Dams are Coming Down

As of November, work to tear down Copco No. 2—the first of four Klamath River dams scheduled for removal near the Oregon/California border—was officially complete, bringing this historic salmon system one step closer to flowing freely for the first time in a century. By November 2024, all four dams are scheduled to be fully out: the largest dam removal ever. But our work is just getting started. In 2024 and beyond, WSC scientists will be lending a hand to partners including the Karuk Tribe on an ambitious plan to recover Chinook salmon in the Klamath Basin. 

4) $174 Million For Oregon’s Water Future

In August, the Oregon State Legislature allocated a whopping $174 million for drought resiliency and water security funding, including tens of millions of dollars for programs and projects that improve stream flow and reconnect rivers. This unprecedented investment in Oregon’s water future is due in no small part to the sustained advocacy of the Oregon Water Partnership: a WSC-convened coalition of seven statewide conservation groups. “There’s a lot we can’t control out there,” says Caylin Barter, WSC’s Oregon Water Policy Senior Program Manager, “but there are obvious and achievable ways we can do a better job of protecting our home waters.” (Watch Barter explain how in our short video “Finding Flow.”)

5) 12,000+ Action Takers

From thanking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for saving Bristol Bay to closing loopholes for Oregon water rights violators, you really spoke up for wild salmon in 2023! Year after year, we count on the WSC community to take action for wild fish, our home watersheds, and the wide-ranging benefits they provide. Salmon are a keystone species, but you, our community activists, are key to why we’ll make sure these species thrive.

6) $22 Million for Pacific Northwest Restoration

Our program staff and grants team worked overtime this year to fund an astonishing number of shovel-ready restoration projects across the Pacific Northwest. This year we secured more than $8 million in Oregon grant commitments from NOAA and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and nearly $14 million for Washington projects from NOAA, NFWF, and Washington State’s Recreation and Conservation Office. These funds will support coastal jobs, repair ecosystems, and help revitalize fisheries that have sustained people here for millennia.

7) Tribal Partnerships on the Olympic Peninsula

Tribal partnerships are key to protecting and restoring salmon stronghold habitats. With historic levels of federal infrastructure funding flowing into salmon restoration, we’re thrilled to be working alongside a growing number of Tribal partners on the Olympic Peninsula, including the Quileute, Hoh, and Makah Tribes, and the Quinault Indian Nation. Together, we’re rapidly scaling our work to correct culverts, decommission failing roads, and expand climate-resilient habitat for steelhead, Chinook, coho, and other wild salmonids—like threatened Lake Ozette sockeye.

8) A 28-Million-Acre Chance to Save Alaska Public Lands

WSC and our partners have launched a campaign to seize a once-in-a-lifetime shot to protect 28 million acres of Alaska public lands: some of the largest intact landscapes left on Earth. These salmon-rich federal lands are located across the state: in the Bristol Bay, Bering Sea Western Interior, East Alaska, Kobuk Seward, and the Ring of Fire regions. And they’re under threat: pending public land orders from the last days of the Trump Administration would open these lands to extractive industrial development. In 2022, the Biden Administration decided to take a closer look at these orders. Now our chance to speak up is here, as the Bureau of Land Management opens a review and public comment period.

9) The International Taimen Initiative Kicks Off

In May, many of the world’s top taimen experts gathered in Hokkaido for the first in-person meeting of the WSC-convened International Taimen Initiative. Taimen are the planet’s largest salmonids, but comparatively little is known about this ancient group of species. Our kick-off meeting in Hokkaido brought together members of the IUCN Salmonid Specialist Group and partners in Japan, the Russian Far East, and Mongolia. Through the scientific collaboration that the ITI aims to foster, we hope to develop new strategies to protect these fascinating and increasingly imperiled species. (Travel to some of the world’s most remote taimen strongholds with WSC CEO & President Guido Rahr in our film “River Tigers.”)

10) Stand Tall Oregon Steps Up

By September, our three-month-old Stand Tall Oregon campaign already had more than 6,400 sign-ons from Oregonians ready to support a 70-year habitat conservation plan for more than 500,000 acres of Western Oregon state forests. That’s a groundswell of new support for clean water and healthy fish and wildlife habitat on these cherished public lands. Strength in numbers is how we’ll counter relentless pressure by the timber industry and its allies to weaken and delay this legacy plan for Oregon state forests, now less than a year away from likely federal approval.

11) Amazing New Team Members

This year, the WSC welcome wagon was open 24/7, as we onboarded eight incredibly talented professionals to our team. We’re thrilled to have the smarts and skills of Science Intern Luke Brockman, Grants Coordinator Sheila Hanson, Human Resources Assistant Annie Kleffner, Government Grants Manager Jordan McCauley, Photo Library Intern Griffin Morse, Olympic Peninsula Fish Habitat Specialist Nicole Rasmussen (meet Nicole here), Alaska Campaign & Outreach Manager Morgan Urquia, and Staff Accountant Mariah Williams. Our 2023 gratitudes list wouldn’t be complete without you.

12) More Live Time With You!

With growth comes opportunity, and in 2023, we seized every chance to interface and celebrate with you, the greater Wild Salmon Center community. This year, we hosted more events than ever. You might have celebrated with us at SalmonFest 2023 in Ninilchik, Alaska, packed the crowd at our sold-out screening of The Lost Salmon in Seattle, or rallied for state forests on Oregon’s North Coast. And we’re just getting started! 2024 will bring even more opportunities for all of us to gather, learn, laugh, and grow our powerful base for wild salmon action.

Thanks for being on our team this year. If you haven’t yet had a chance to contribute to Wild Salmon Center, it’s never too late.

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We were saddened to learn this week of the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Justice O’Connor was a trailblazing American figure who ended up as the arbiter in many of the crucial political and cultural debates of the last half century. 

But many may not know that she was also an avid fly fisher who supported wild fish conservation. In 2008, Wild Salmon Center CEO Guido Rahr hosted Justice O’Connor on the lower Deschutes River for steelhead fishing. It was a classic overcast Oregon fall day on the river, and as O’Connor waded into the swift water, Rahr was right with her, holding her wading belt. 

At that point, the Justice had never hooked a steelhead. If she had a grab, Rahr advised O’Connor to keep her rod down and let the fish turn with the fly.  Eventually she felt the gentle pull from a steelhead. But reflexively, she instead pulled her rod up and set the hook with force. 

Stronghold author Tucker Malarkey picks up the story here:

For the steelhead, this was like hitting a wall. It couldn’t swim another millimeter downstream against the kind of resistance Justice O’Connor was offering. Nor could it swim down to take shelter at the river’s bottom. The only choice the fish had was to burst into the air and cartwheel across the river in explosions of spray. Justice O’Connor screamed with delight…It took them twenty minutes, and a thrilling fight, to land the steelhead.

After leaving the court, Justice O’Connor served on Wild Salmon Center’s advisory board. In 2010, she helped sponsor a reception with WSC and Alaskan partners in Washington, D.C., as the campaign to stop Pebble Mine was just starting to gain momentum. 

“Justice O’Connor loved the stronghold strategy.” Rahr recalls. “She said ‘it makes sense.’ “We were honored that she lent a hand to us in support of conservation. And to her family at this somber time, we extend our condolences.”  

The Justice may have grown up on a ranch in Arizona, he notes, but her connection to the natural world spanned many geographies and causes.

“Justice O’Connor loved fishing the trout streams of the West, and she loved swapping fishing stories,” Rahr says. “I am honored to have been her friend.”

“Justice O’Connor loved fishing the trout streams of the West, and she loved swapping fishing stories. I am honored to have been her friend.”

WSC President & CEO Guido Rahr

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